Volunteer Mentorship Opportunity in Neuroscience

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The Science Mentorship Institute (sci-MI) hosts the Neuroscience Mentorship Program (NMP) , a volunteer-driven, fully virtual program that aims to provide scientific mentorship in neuroscience to high school students. Founded by a Wellesley College alum to decrease barriers to entry in neuroscience, this free and virtual summer program for students fully relies on the support of volunteers like you. The number of high school students we can support entirely relies on the number of volunteers we receive.

This summer is an exciting time for the program: we are growing, with aims to reach underserved populations across the country. With this in mind, we are seeking anyone with research experience to support STEM education and equity in scientific training. There are multiple fronts for which we are currently accepting volunteer applications on a rolling basis. We would be delighted to have you take part in various leadership and mentorship opportunities.

Role descriptions

We are a volunteer-powered nonprofit organization. As such, we do our best to ensure that every role will enrich the career development of volunteers. In addition to high flexibility in all volunteer roles listed below and clear communication of volunteering hours (not to exceed 5 hrs/week for most), we plan on providing peer-to-peer connections and other career development opportunities, whether in staff or leadership. In addition, we plan on offering the Presidential Volunteer Service Award in the coming future to all volunteers who qualify.

Staff

Primary Mentor (~5 hours per week, fully flexible)

We are in greatest need for this role, as mentors power our entire initiative. The mentor serves as direct contact for students to develop an individualized summer project. This is a very fulfilling role: with two to three students to mentor in the summer (or more, depending on your availability), you will directly navigate mentorship for young, budding scientists! In addition, you will be able to develop a summer curriculum. While we have previously developed a program-wide curriculum, you will be able to provide feedback and edits to continually improve our teaching.

Qualifications:

• Current undergraduate or beyond
• 1+ semester- or summer-long experience in neuroscience-related research (including but not limited to biology, chemistry, physics, math, computer science, and other related STEM fields)
• Some foundational knowledge in neuroscience (e.g. neurons, basic biological concepts)
• Passion for teaching
• Cross-cultural humility and good interpersonal skills

Computational Mentor (5 hours per week)

The computational mentor provides education on computational techniques that are typically involved in scientific research. You will be involved in developing a computational curriculum and working with students to help address computational tools/issues that arise in projects, while fostering excitement (rather than fear!) for these methodologies.

Qualifications:

• Current undergraduate or beyond
• Experience in R, Python, and other scientific programming languages (open-source preferred)
• Some foundational experience in biological research (e.g. basic biological concepts)
• Passion for teaching
• Ability to explain difficult concepts in layman’s terms

Application Instructions: Please fill out the application through the following link: https://forms.gle/fHcFMbzbU6yazssM8